“Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”
It’s a lesson some people don’t learn until much later in life, but it’s one that benefits us immensely the earlier we learn it: We must see things how they are rather than how we want them to be. Without the ability to see things how they are, we have no hope of doing what needs to be done to improve our situation or the situation of others.
For example, ask yourself: How actively have you been pursuing new listings? How well have you been following-up with phone calls? Have you been making every effort to work on your business while you’re dealing the day-to-day requirements of your business? Most people will tell you the desirable answer to these questions, but the truth is we are imperfect and we often fall short of our best intentions.
One way to develop honesty is to practice the art of judgement-free accountability. Simple logs of our behavior reveal to us what we’re doing versus what we think we’re doing. If you simply begin tracking some activity in your life, be it the number of prospecting calls you make, or the number of miles you run each week, you’ll quickly see the truth of the situation. Paradoxically, this seldom makes people feel bad about what they’re doing. In fact, it often inspires them to do better. The drive to beat your own personal best can be addictive.
“Good enough,” is a recipe for stagnation, and is often dishonest when it comes to our true feelings. “Good enough,” is sometimes code for “I’m afraid to fail” and “I don’t want to make the effort.” The little lies we permit ourselves may be a natural response to the “most difficult risk” of self-honesty.
Where are you less-than-honest with yourself, and what might be possible if you changed that?
